Welcome all of us to this board. WOW, its amazing isn't it that we are all now mummies. It is something that I though would never happen to me.

Hopefully you will be joining me on this thread. We've all been posting for nearly a year now, as our ivf's were in october / nov 04.

Baby Freya has fallen asleep, so its time for me to do some housework. I am exhausted ........ and praying that she sleeps tonight. I have been trying to keep her awake more during the day but it impossible, she falls asleep on the breast and I just can't wake her up. She's meant to only sleep 6-8 hours during the day, she most probably doubles that!!!!
Oh well, its all learning but any advice welcome.

Hi Sophie,
Thank you for starting the new thread. As you said its been an year almost for us started posting the threads of our ivf treatment. We are proud moms already. Its so amazing. Priya is sleeping now. She also like Freya, sleeps in the day time and wakes up in the night. I am trying to keep her awake atleast for an hour in the day, so that she sleeps in the night time. I have to see how its going to work.
Welcome Oct/Nov'04 buddies.
Lots of Love,
Valli.

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm impressed if you have time to get onto the board and post or even read the posts during those first 6-8 weeks. It's such a wonderfully exhausting time isn't it? Know that it just gets easier the older they get.

Joshua had his 6 week healthcheck with health visitor yesterday. He weighs 4.990 kg (11 lb) which is the 50th centile (he was 7 lb 8 oz when he was born). His head circumference is 38.5 cm again this is the 50th centile. His length has gone from 52 cm to 59 since birth which puts him in the 91st centile. So he is doing really well. His doctors check and jabs are in 2 weeks.

Joshua had his first visit to Casualty last week, John fell asleep on sofa with him, and Joshua rolled off. We were so upset but everything was fine and I don't think Joshua realised anything was up -he was playing with the dr at 1.45am!!! Health visitor said the same thing happens to so many babies. So John now lays on the bed with lots of cushions for his daily 'Joshua time').

Joshua has already been invited to 3 birthday parties and a bbq -we have never been so popular. Everybody says he is a really beautiful baby. I made Thank You cards for everybody with a picture of Joshua in his Winnie the Pooh moses basket. We got some lovely pictures of him on Sunday dressed in his velvet Tigger and Eeyore suits -complete with face,paws and tails!!! Good job we have a digital camera -we have taken about 700 photos so far and had 200 printed off about 3 weeks ago. Funnily enough Joshua loves having his photo taken.

Hope baby Indira, Thomas, Thomas and Charlotte, Freya, Priya and Zachariah and their mummies (of course) are all doing well and enjoying all the fuss and attention. Joshua is still getting presents -even now. I can't believe how fast these weeks have gone compared to those last few weeks of pregnancy.

Thomas had his first vaccinations on Thursday. Bless his little heart - one injection at the top of each leg - he was not happy !!! He was pretty grumpy for the rest of the day and I felt terrible for him and just gave him loads and loads of cuddles ( and half a teaspoon of Calpol ! )

Today I bought The New Contented Little Baby Book by Gina Ford and we intend to try and start her 8 to 12 week olds routine tomorrow. If any of you do buy the book there is advice on page 88 of how to get started with the routine after having let baby sleep in your arms or in a car seat for the first few months before trying to establish a routine.
Not only does the book break up the entire day regarding sleep time, feeding time and play time for your baby it also tells you when YOU should be eating your breakfast and evening meal !! Has anyone else bought the book and started following the routines ? If you have, how's it going ?

hello all,
kim, what a lovely post of all the babies names and birthdays.
as for gina fords book, i try and start the routine each day, but i hate waking her up when she is asleep, and i am often out and about with her and she sleeps when she shouldn't be sleepng. freya still sleeps far too much during the day, that i am now paranoid that i am not stimulating her enough. she has started smiling but not frequently, as when she is awake she is still a bit grumpy and miserable.
jackie ... wow joshua is doing well ..... 11lb. Its so nice isn't it when they are weighed and you can see the weight they have put on.
Freya is a small baby and only puts on 5oz a week, but the weight gain is steady and h.V. say its ok. She is just 9lb now (9th percentile). Both me and her Daddy are quite small.
That must have been scary when Joshua fell off the sofa. Its nearly happened to me as well.
Hope everyone is well. Its tiring work isn't it. I have never been so shattered. i am taking freya for a cranial-sacral therapy session tommorrow. hopefully this will sort out her appaling breastfeeding technique and her wind. if it doesn't i am knocking breast feeding on the head as its still not going too well. she does not stay latched on for more than one or two sucks, so feeding lasts over an hour each time and she gets stressed. i'll let you know if it works.
better go,
from soph

Ooooh, I love reading about all the new babies although the feeding and sleep problems are mostly distant memories now...unless you count Maya shouting 'no pobbige mummy, toast yes please' seconds after I deliver her lovingly handmade porrage breakfast to her....

SophieJane, one of the best things I ever did was follow Gina's advice to wake Maya at 10.30pm for her last night feed. My friends were horrified (before they borrowed the book and were quickly converts). I worried that she wouldn't fall asleep afterwards but she always did, all warm and full-tummied and best of all, it meant she slept through much earlier. I should say it goes in waves and even the best sleeping babies have horrible months when it all feels out of control. There comes a point though when you realise it's better more of the time than not, and then you're getting somewhere. Maya is 2yrs4ms and still has patches of crappy sleep (she's getting her 2yr molars at the moment).

I'm afraid to say that I've given up on Gina Ford for now. I don't think I'm ready to enforce such a rigid routine just yet - I wasn't getting out enough and was starting to feel a bit low being in the house so much. However, the book has really helped to get Thomas feeding at regular intervals rather than on demand, which has made my life so much easier. He also goes to bed at 7pm and sleeps in his crib which is a major breakthrough.
I feel a bit of a failure for giving up after only three days ( I hate giving up on things) but maybe I'll go back to it at a later date.

Sorry to hear that breastfeeding isn't going to plan. If you do end up bottle feeding at least Freya's had these first few very important weeks being breast fed but I really hope the cranial sacral therapy session works because it sounds like you'd really like to continue with the breastfeeding - so good luck !!

Kim, getting Thomas to feed on schedule, sleep at 7pm AND settle in his crib are 3 amazing successes. Don't beat yourself up, you tried the routine, used it to achieve 3 milestones, feel happy and chuffed please!

Hi all,
cranial session has yet to make any significant difference with freyas feeding or wind, but do have two more sessions booked. Mind you she is a delight at the moment with her sleeping and is sleeping through the night until 5.30 / 6am. She is fractious though from tea time to 10.00pm, and is grumpy. Still haven't managed to eat dinner without bouncing her on my knee or having her attached to my breast!!!.
Hope everyone else is OK, and your babies as gorgeous and wonderful as ever.
Jen ... sounds like the medication might be helping baby Indira, and I hope it continues to do the trick. Your post reflects your complete love for Indira..its so lovely.
Kim ... I keep on going back to Gina Fords book, and then switch to The Baby Whisperer and then give up on all of them. I still have no routine and haven't quite mastered the putting Freya in her cot awake and her falling asleep by herself. She needs a dummy, and then wakes up crying when the dummy falls out. Therefore for her to actually fall asleep normally takes an hour. But once asleep she's an angel and stays that way for several hours.
Debra .. thanks for your words of advice. Good luck with your next treatment, and just think when you do have another baby you will be going through the sleepless nights again.

We have our 8 week check this week. I still feel abit weird down below,a nd am now concerned about my lack of pelvic floor exercises!!! I'm hoping my sex life wont be affected too much, as I need to get back in the saddle before I forget what to do!!!! Its been absolutely ages (esp as we didn't even need sex to conceive Freya!!)

sorry i have not been around much but as Im sure you can imagine its total mayhem here. once one is settled the other starts up, and in between im either sleeping, washing, ironing, tidying, moping up sick etc etc etc!

Ive been reading up on your lives now that the lovely babies are all here - can you believe it was less than a year ago and we had no idea what the future held, and all we could do was keep up that PMA and pray!? Everyone sounds really happy.............

Thomas and Charlotte are growing nicely now, Thomas was 9lbs last week, and Charlotte 7lbs 5ozs. She has changed so much! Thomas seems to have just got bigger - but Charlottes face shape is completely different to when she was born. We went to my freinds wedding a week and a half ago - I was the only bridesmaid so poor Geoff had to try and cope with the 2 of them on his own while i was off doing Bridesmaidy type things. Charlotte managed to hiccup her way through the service (bless her!), which everyone thought was really cute! Other than that they were as good as gold, we were really proud of them. They stole the show a little bit, as everyone made a beeline for them, but i don't think the bride and grrom minded too much as they are going to be god parents to Charlotte and just went around telling everyone all day!!!

Thomas is starting to sleep a bit better now, and will go through til 4/5am. Charlotte however is still waking up every 3/4 hours for feeds. its so draining as i feel like i am constantly feeding..................... but we are getting there slowly. They are both smiling loads now - and seem very happy healthy and content babies - i am very lucky. The only blot is that Thomas is a sicky baby - he is on gaviscon for every feed, but its not stopped it although it has helped....

Kim and Sophie - I have heard that the Gina Ford way of doing things is sooo restrictive - I dont think I would be able to follow a very strict routine with 2 babies. However, i have bought a different book which has great reviews, called 'Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child' by Dr Marc Weissbluth. I havent sat a read it yet - but it was highly recommende to me (on here actually) and has rave reviews. people actually say it works from day 1! Ill let you know how i get on..............

Will post more when i have time, love to everyone else

Toni x

Trying to conceive for over a yr
First ICSI - Nov 04 - Twins!!!
Thomas and Charlotte born 06/07/05

Things still manic my end..........we got Indira settled only for a major turn for the worse today..........reflux is back and due to being older she has discovered that the bottle is what is causing the pain and has been vvvvery difficult to feed and is only doing 2oz per feed!

That aside life is good!

I have given up on all routines guys it is just no go babies with reflux just are impossible to get any routine going with!

sorry to hear things are a bit hairy and hectic. I count myself very lucky that both our babies are neither colic or reflux babies - sounds like hell!

Just to say that i have a friend of a friend who has a reflux baby - and Oli (the baby) now sleeps through the night for 12 hrs 15 mins exactly. Also has 2 naps a day at exactly the same time!!! Oli must be about 6 months old now, so its a bit different to ours! Maybe it helps once they go on solids? I don't really know enough about reflux to know what causes it - whether solids would have the same effect or not. But Just to say that routine will come with time.

I know what you mean though - i feel its impossible to get into a routine with twins. you are always rushing about and I swear the babies pick this up and feel agitated themselves! Plus Thomas eats a lot more than Charlotte - being so much bigger, but because of that his feeds are further apart. As for going through the night - thats a long long long way off!!!!!

love to all mummies and babies

Toni x

Trying to conceive for over a yr
First ICSI - Nov 04 - Twins!!!
Thomas and Charlotte born 06/07/05